Maureen: Yum! Jamie’s fish pie. We love this.
Andrew (12): We do?
Nicholas (8): Are you sure?
Maureen: I could not be more sure. In fact, when I made the “Happy Fish Pie” from “Jamie’s Great Britain” we spent a lot of the meal saying this one was better.
Andrew: I really don’t remember that. But whatevs. This is nice.
Kirstin: So Ella. What do you think about this sea bass?
Ella: I will like it more, if I get to stab your fish in the eyeball.
Kirstin: So that means you like it then?
Georgia: The fish and pancetta was yummy. And I really liked the beans.
Ella: I kind of like it. I just think the fish is a bit too squishy. I like the saltiness of the pancetta.
Kirstin: Well I really liked it. How did I miss the recipe the first time around? I will be doing this one again lots.
Tom: Can we have this as our new Monday-night fish recipe, please? It’s fab! Why did we not do this one before?
Miles: This fish is delicious!
Georgia: Yum! Yummy!
Tom: I like this a lot. It’s very simple. I was picking crispy bits of potato and onion out of the pan when I was serving it, and now I’m going to have seconds.
Oscar (the cat) : Mwaow!
Miles: Mum, this tastes like a fish in the sea.
Kirstin: That’s because it is a fish from the sea!
Miles: Actually, it tastes like the sea. I don’t like it! Can I give it to Oscar?
Kirstin: No, you have to eat some first!
Miles: My tooth is nearly coming out.
Tom: Well, the fish is very soft, so it’s great if you have a wobbly tooth.
Kirstin: Ella, what do you think? Do you like it?
Ella: No.
Kirstin: Of all the fish recipes I have cooked, which is your favourite?
Ella: None of them.
Kirstin: Miles, which is your favourite fish recipe?
Miles: Fish and chips at the pub!
Kirstin: What about you, Georgia?
Georgia: I liked the fish fingers you made last week.
Tom: So did I.
Kirstin: Because we should do one fish recipe a week. Fish is good for you. I miss fish!
Tom: Do you think they would eat teriyaki salmon?
Kirstin: I really loved the simplicity of this recipe. I will be making this one again, whether they like it or not!
Kirstin: Hurrah! Home made fish fingers! I have been trying for the longest time to get a fish recipe that the little people can have every week. Is it this one?
Ella: No, I don’t like this one either. But I like it more than the others.
Miles: I don’t like the breadcrumbs.
Tom: What? The breadcrumbs are much better than the ones on normal fish fingers!
Kirstin: What do you think Georgia? Actually, I think I can tell as you’ve cleared your plate. Would you like any more?
Georgia: Yes please! They were amazing!
Tom: I liked them too.
Kirstin: I shall definitely be making these again. And Miles, you can get used to these breadcrumbs!
Georgia: The fish was epic. And it tasted… fishy!
Tom: I liked the spicy crust. What was in it?
Kirstin: Fennel and white peppercorns. Miles said he didn’t like it, but he ate all of his!
Ella: I don’t mind it, but I don’t really like the crusty bit.
Kirstin: Turn the fish over! There’s more!
Ella: I’ve had enough, thank you.
Tom: I don’t think there’s a tidy way to eat skate.
Kirstin: And I watched the video on Jamie’s website of how to remove the bone! I can’t understand why the fishmonger doesn’t do that. But it was super easy to do and you know, if I’m stuck in a jungle trying to remove bones from a skate, I know what to do…
Tom: Would you make this again?
Kirstin: No. It’s too much of a faff.
Ella: I wouldn’t eat it again, unless my life depended on it.
Tom: If you had to cook skate, would you cook this recipe?
Kirstin: No, I’d stick with Jamie’s old recipe, with radicchio and pancetta in it. I used to cook that every week and it was yum!
We didn’t talk about this recipe very much, as our dinner conversation quickly veered into the territory of “What souveniers do you want from China?” (Answer: A panda. Or if that’s not possible, chopsticks) and jokes (Here’s the best one: A panda is eating in a restaurant, when all of the sudden he shoots his waiter and leaves. A policeman chases after him and says, “What do you think you’re doing?” to which the panda replies, “Hey, I’m a panda. Look it up in the dictionary. I eat shoots and leaves.”) I think there’s some good value in the blog today– food AND jokes!
It’s no surprise that a recipe for fish pie was included in “Jamie’s Great Britain.” I think fish pie is as classic a British recipe as it comes. As he says in the introduction, “Fish pie is one of the cornerstones of great British comfort food.”
Fish Pie is definitely classic British cooking. Before we moved here 13 years ago from the United States, we never had a fish pie in our life. But that all changed after I bought a copy of “The Return of the Naked Chef,” Jamie’s second book. ”Fantastic Fish Pie” is just that– fantastic. The page in my cookbook has all manner of splashes and stains on it. I have notes from October 2001 on the page, meaning that I’ve been making this dish for 10 years. We all love it. It is firmly in the autumn/winter rotation of dinners here. If you’d like to make it yourself, there’s a link to the recipe here.
So how does this version stack up with the original? It doesn’t stack up, unfortunately. Our view might be tainted by the fact that we haven’t tried many any other fish pie recipes. (Why branch out when you found one you’ve love?) This version isn’t dramatically different from that one, but where it fails is it doesn’t include the two things that make the original so good: handfuls of spinach and boiled eggs.
Tom: Hark! A carbohydrate. But will this potato be cooked?
Kirstin: I blanched the potato slices first, and then baked them with the fish.
Tom: I like fish en papillote like this. Ooh, yes. The potato is cooked.
Kirstin: And the fish is infused with lime… it’s really good. But I think I chose the wrong kind of fish (pollock). It might have been better if I’d used cod. But I always feel bad using cod.
Tom: I like this. Was it a fiddle to make the lime butter?
Kirstin: No, not at all. I don’t think I’ll make this again, though. But only because I like lots of Bill’s other recipes more than I like this one.
Tom: Wow. A Thai feast.
Anna: If we were at your mum’s, we’d have those lovely crunchy things!
Tom: Kroepoek? Yes, my mum does Indonesian ones. But yes. I know what you mean. Anyway, the fishcakes were fantastic. What was in the relish that made it sweet?
Anna: Sugar.
